666 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1. 



do most of the singing. As my audience were 

 mostly people of wealth and education, some 

 of them addicted to expensive habits, I felt 

 more than usual anxiety about what I should 

 say, but finally selected for my reading the 

 latter part of the 6th chapter ol Matthew, 

 selecting for a text, "Seek ye first the king- 

 dom of God and his righteousness, and all 

 things else shall be added unto you," and 

 spoke something as follows : 



Dear friends, after the many pleasant ac- 

 quaintances I have made in the past few days 

 1 realize more than ever before how differently 

 we are constituted, and how far apart many 

 good people stand on the moral issues of the 

 day. We are, many of us, prejudiced, and 

 this is true of both believers and unbelievers; 

 and many times because we do not really 

 understand one another. This Bible I hold 

 in my hand, I verily believe will do more to 

 harmonize the world than any or all else com- 

 bined, if we will only listen to it and read it. 



Let us now consider our text. As a rule, 

 all people assent to at least the first part of it. 

 Few people now, of education and culture, 

 dispute the existence of God. It is now, as in 

 olden times, only the fool who says there is 

 no God. Of course, there are people who 

 wish the}' could escape God, for they can not 

 bear the thought of God's righteous judgment. 

 Having acknowledged the existence of a 

 righteous God it seems very reasonable that 

 we, his creatures, should accord him the /?/5/ 

 place in our thoughts, and, in fact, in the lives 

 we live. This very service we are all now 

 taking part in is, in fact, setting apart one 

 day in seven to acknowledge him and to seek 

 him, in the language of our text. 



The world may not be all ready to do it, by 

 a long way ; but the world, nearly all, will 

 agree that it is a very good and proper thing 

 to seek him first, and place him above all 

 things. Now if, in our business matters, and 

 matters of state, we could agree to seek first 

 God's kingdom and his righteousness — why, 

 it would make a heaven here on earth. Let 

 us consider for a moment how very far we are 

 from agreeing on religious matters. Some- 

 body has said there are seventeen different 

 kinds of Presbyterians, and probably almost 

 as many of other denominations. If bodies of 

 Oiristiatis can not agree any better than this, 

 how are we to expect to unite believers and 

 unbelievers in harmony ? Can we not drop 

 some of our denominational walls, and unite 

 on the little text we are considering ? 



Let me now quote another of my favorite 

 and precious texts : ' ' Great peace have they 

 who love thy law, and nothing shall offend 

 them." People get offended, and this is what 

 makes the divisions in the church and the 

 divisions in society. Are there any nowadays 

 who love God's law to the extent that nothing 

 offends them ? When we find such a one, he 

 will have that "great peace." 



Dear friends, and all who hear my voice, 

 would yon have that great peace ? Are you 

 sometimes " blue " ? do you have trouble and 

 misunderstandings ? In our walks over these 

 beautiful grounds, several have suggested that 

 a plunge in a boiling spring would end all 



troubles much quicker than drowning. Have 

 }'ou ever had such thoughts? Shall I give 

 you a remedy ? Make this Bible your friend ; 

 read it every day; follow its counsels, and life 

 will be worth living. When you open your 

 eyes in the morning you can sing, "Praise 

 God, from whom all blessings flow." You 

 will thank him every day for having given 

 you a life to live; but it must cease being a 

 life for self. It must be to QjoA first and above 

 all, and then the promise in the latter part of 

 the text will surely come. 



JvETTER TO MY SUNDAY-SCHOOL CLASS. 

 Dear Boys: — I am sitting on the shore of a 

 beautiful lake about ten times as large as 

 Lake Chippewa. It is about 8000 feet above 

 sea-level, and is surrounded by mountains 

 capped with snow. In fact, snow is always 

 in sight. It is one of the best places for 

 catching speckled mountain trout in the 

 world, and the}' are the finest fish I ever ate. 

 Last night at supper the cook said we were all 

 to eat just all we pleased, as the guests had 

 caught so many they would have to throw a 

 lot away; but I started to tell you 



A BE.\R-STORY. 



The United States government protects the 

 bears and all other animals here, so they are 

 very tame. Well, a few days ago a large fine 

 bear climbed into the meat-man's wagon and 

 picked a large piece of beef out of one of the 

 barrels while the man had gone into the hotel. 

 The piece was so large the bear had to hold it 

 with his fore paws while he walked off on his 

 hind feet. The man came out and caught him 

 at it, and pounded him over the head with a 

 club; but he wouldn't let go his meat, and 

 got away; but he grunted and growled a good 

 deal at the pounding he got. 



Well, when I heard them telling about it I 

 wanted to see the bear, and a party of us 

 went about half a mile and found him just 

 about sundown, up in a big pine-tree. I 

 rather think somebody chased him up the tree. 

 Well, we wanted to see him get down, and so 

 a man climbed a slender pine-tree near him 

 and began punching him with a pole. As 

 soon as he saw the man coming up he pricked 

 up his ears, and begin to growl, and show his 

 teeth. I tell you, he is a great beauty. His 

 fur is soft and shiny, and he is just as soft 

 and handsome as any kitten you ever saw. 

 A\'ell, the bear climbed as high as he dared on 

 the slender top ; but as the man kept poking 

 him he kept growling at a fearful rate, and 

 got awful mad; but he went slowly still high- 

 er; finally the slender limbs broke beneath 

 his great weight, and down he slid with a 

 great crash to the larger limbs, and then he 

 began climbing down with a rush for he was 

 mad. At the same time the man began to get 

 down lively, for he feared the bear might try 

 to climb his tree after he got down. By this 

 time a crowd of people had collected ; and 

 just for fun, while we were all laughing and 

 yelling, some called out, "Three to one on 

 the bear!" others, "I put my money on the 

 man." The man got down first, however, 

 and then the bear wouldn't come down any 



